India, Dec. 25 -- Bashir Bhat wakes before dawn in Srinagar, weaving his delivery bike through narrow lanes and crowded markets.

At 42, he thinks about the future more than he used to.

Every month, he watches older men and women collect their pensions of about one thousand five hundred rupees and wonders how he will manage when he can no longer work.

"I see people struggling to buy medicine or food," he says. "They get money every month, but it is not enough. I do not want to end up like that when I grow old."

Bashir's concern reflects a wider reality in Jammu and Kashmir today.

Over eight lakh people in the Union Territory receive monthly pensions through the government's social schemes.

About four and a half lakh live in Kashmir D...